When we think of a Feminist we think of someone who is on the Left. Someone who supports radical ideas. In the 1800’s they supported the abolition of slavery and the prohibition of alcohol. But one idea that they always seem to have supported and that you hear them talk about today is Socialism. They love collectivism, they love the idea of people working together without the profit motive, without people getting rich at other people’s expense, coupled with the idea of wealth redistribution. However there is a fly in that ointment.
If you take a look at the modern Capitalist economy you notice that it supports and propagates Feminist ideas. It does even more than that, it is filled with women living the ideal Feminist lifestyle, many of whom will tell you that they are Feminists. How is it that Feminists are so happy to be a part of Capitalism?
I think the answer lies not in ideology but in women’s nature. One of the interesting things about the division of sex into male and female is how each sex has different roles in life. One of the primary male roles is being a provider, providing economic resources that keeps the rest of his family alive. Whether in goods or in the form of money. The role of the female is to manage those resources, to put it another way she is a collectivist, someone who redistributes resources. The man provides, the women manages.
Which means that Socialism is a natural fit for women, they understand many of the basic concepts without even needing to think about it. It is simply the family upscaled to the entire society. In fact once women gained the vote the electorate took a turn to the left, where it has continued to go ever since. Although to be fair it only accelerated a process that was already underway. But at the same time there is a contradiction and that is that women manage the resources of their own family, not of other people’s families. So there are two powerful forces at work each struggling against the other. Women believe simultaneously all of society should act like a family, but that society should never take away resources from my family.
In the real world most women aren’t Socialists, but they are sympathetic towards the idea.
Women also have mixed feels about Capitalism, they don’t like the competitive nature of the beast, but they do like the results. It does something that they greatly admire and that is that it provides resources. Before Liberalism decided that it loved Feminism, something that it didn’t always, men received those resources and they in turn gave them to women. The natural order was upheld. Over the past 50 years that order has been actively subverted, increasingly women have received those resources directly. Leading many women to believe that they don’t need men.
At the same time while Liberalism said loudly that the thing that made Capitalism better than Socialism was its competitive nature, competition was being curtailed. Today we live under Crony Capitalism, competition is increasingly sidelined in favour of winners being picked.
So far that has not meant a decrease in resources and while those resources keep coming in, then women will continue to see Capitalism as something that they can get behind. Which includes Feminists.
Originally published at Upon Hope. You can find Mark’s Subscribestar here.